Injuries can occur in activities, such as, for example, contact sports, snowmobile riding, motorcycle riding, automobile racing, go-cart riding, snowboarding, snowskiing, aircraft flying, bicycle riding, gymnastics and track. In contact sports, such as football, hockey and lacrosse, player injuries have increased despite players wearing protective equipment. In some cases, this can be due to limited options of protective gear that provide adequate protection without impacting the performance of a player. Moreover, efforts in helmet design, face guards and helmet suspensions have contributed somewhat to an increase in neck injuries as a result of the transfer of forces applied to the helmet directly onto the neck. Player injury has also increased because of player strength development and as a result, collisions occur in contact sports with greater impact and consequent danger.
Injuries to the neck are more frequently occurring in contact sports and typically can be serious and result in life-threatening and/or life-changing consequences. For example, brain and spinal cord damage can result from hyperflexion and/or hyperextension of the neck. These conditions usually occur as a result of a player's head being forced violently backward, forward, downward and/or to the side during a collision or other engagement with a player and/or ground surface. These instances of violent neck movement can sometimes be fatal and result in paralysis, fainting, weakness in the extremities, constant and intermittent pain and other physical deformities and/or conditions. In some cases, protective gear options, such as, for example, heavier helmets and neck collars have been used in an attempt to prevent such violent neck movement. This disclosure describes an improvement over these prior art technologies.